Industrial Disease/Illness

Industrial Disease/Illness

In the UK there are over 2 million people who suffer from personal injuries that occur in the workplace. A great deal of these injuries are sustained due to environmental factors they are called industrial disease. These diseases range from simple rashes to fatal illnesses, no matter what the degree of severity may be, they should all be taken very seriously by all parties involved.

The most often reported industrial diseasesare skin diseases, chest pains, hearing loss, vibration white finger, asbestosis, pleural plaques and mesothelioma to name some of them.

The Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974, sets the precedence for which legal action can be taken in the matters of industrial disease claims. This statue has since been improved upon by the European Union (EU) regulations, this is mandatory for all employers in the UK. Most often any prosecutions that need to be executed due to breaches of any of the regulations are taken care of by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and the Health and Safety executive (HSE), which have since merged on 1 April 2008. They are responsible for enforcing health and safety laws throughout the UK.

As soon as you start to experience any symptoms or sustain an injury at work, you should seek the advice of a doctor and then you need to seek out legal advice. In the case of Industrial disease or Industrial illness there could be a large amount of time that passes before you have symptoms that are noticeable. In this instance, the normal time limitations do not apply for a disease/illness compensation claim.

Compensation is a vital factor to someone who has suffered an industrial disease. Compensation is a major help to someone who is struggling with medical expenses after suffering an industrial dease or illness. In the case of a death to someone that is caused by an industrial diease or illness and a compensation claim will be needed to help take care of the survivor’s family.

In your industrial disease claim you may file for general damages, this includes pain and suffering and medical bills. You will need to have proof of your medical bills to support your claim. You can also file for loss of future earnings if your illness is serious enough to prevent you from working in the future. The general damages will also cover your loss of being able to live your life as you did before, to be able to do your day to day chores, hobbies, sports or projects you did before.
Then there are Special Damages that can be awarded in the compensation case, such as for expenses to and from the doctor, hospital, cost of prescriptions, nursing homes, rehabilitation centres, or anything else that is considered medically necessary.

If you wish to report diseases, dangerous occurrences or work-related accidents resulting in work-related injury, you should contact the Incident Contact Centre (ICC).